S&P lifts L'Air Liquide

S&P said it raised L'Air Liquide SA’s issuer rating to A from A-.

“Supportive financial leverage management has strengthened the balance sheet. Financial leverage management has been supportive since the Airgas acquisition in 2016, improving gearing to about 56% at year-end 2020 (company-defined unadjusted debt to equity) from 90% over that period. This is driven by balancing sizable and fairly predictable operational cash flow, capex, bolt-on acquisitions and net debt reduction,” S&P said in a press release.

“We view L'Air Liquide to be well positioned for growth and the accelerating energy transition due to historically high investment. A key long-term ambition is to triple its existing €2 billion in sales per year hydrogen business before 2035 through €8 billion in capex. The company also offers various solutions to its customers to decarbonize their industrial assets and production processes and enable the hydrogen economy,” the agency said.

The outlook is stable.

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